Foreigners buy net 17.2 tln won worth Seoul stocks this year

(ATTN: RECASTS figure in para 4 due to official correction)
By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- Net buying of South Korean stocks by foreign investors
exceeded 17 trillion won (US$14 billion) in the first seven months of this year
due to hopes for an economic recovery, the financial watchdog said Thursday.
Foreigners bought a net 17.2 trillion won worth of local stocks listed on the
main and secondary KOSDAQ markets in the January-July period, compared with a net
selling of 23.8 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial
Supervisory Service (FSS).
"After major listed companies unveiled their second-quarter earnings, foreign
investors expanded their buying of local stocks," the FSS said in a statement.
They posted the largest monthly net purchase with 6 trillion won in July since
South Korea opened its stock market to them in January 1992, it added. In the
April-July period, when they sharply increased their holdings of Korean shares,
they made net purchases of 16.5 trillion won, the biggest four-month buying spree
since the opening of the markets.
The data come as the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped
about 39 percent this year because a sharp downturn in the local economy eased,
reviving the appetite for risk of offshore investors. The KOSPI tumbled around 40
percent last year alone, stung by a global financial rout.
Major Korean companies, led by market leader Samsung Electronics, released
better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, pushing the key stock index higher.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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